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Experimental measurements of the dispersion of tracer particles in flow through natural porous media are compared with a percolation model. The experiments show that tracer dispersion is a sensitive function of the width of the pore-size distribution as measured by mercury capillary pressure. Measurements of capillary pressure (or electrical conductivity) are used to estimate the geometric correlation length of the dominant flow path in the rock. Percolation theory is used to derive a power-law relationship between the correlation length and the ratio of the dispersivity to the average grain size. The experimental value of the power-law exponent is in agreement with the theoretical prediction. Measurements on samples containing a residual saturation of wetting epoxy show no significant change in dispersion behavior. This result mediates against dispersion models requiring trapping in dead-end pores. Tracer concentration profiles exhibit anomalous long-time tails in two cases. In carbonate rocks, we associate long-time tails with macroscopic permeability heterogeneities. In sandstones, long-time tails occur in samples with a very narrow pore-size distribution. These samples may have permeability heterogeneities as a result of defects in the packing density. In the limit of low flow velocity, the long-time tail disappears, suggesting a convective mechanism associated with flow heterogeneities at a millimeter-or-larger scale.

Geophysicists, looking for new exploration tools, have studied the coupling between seismic and electromagnetic waves in the near-surface since the 1930s. Our research explores the possibility that electromagnetic-to-seismic ͑ES͒ conversion is useful at greater depths. Field tests of ES conversion over gas sands and carbonate oil reservoirs succeeded in delineating known hydrocarbon accumulations from depths up to 1500 m. This is the first observation of electromagnetic-to-seismic coupling from surface electrodes and geophones. Electrodes at the earth's surface generate electric fields at the target and digital accelerometers detect the returning seismic wave. Conversion at depth is confirmed with hydrophones placed in wells. The gas sands yielded a linear ES response, as expected for electrokinetic energy conversion, and in qualitative agreement with numerical simulations. The carbonate oil reservoirs generate nonlinear conversions; a qualitatively new observation and a new probe of rock properties. The hard-rock results suggest applications in lithologies where seismic hydrocarbon indicators are weak. With greater effort, deeper penetration should be possible.

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The temperature coefficient of expansion has been measured for the a and c axes of titanium disulfide, and of its intercalates with a metal, lithium, and an organic base, s−collidine. The anisotropy in the expansion coefficients is related to the bonding in the structure.

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